A crowd of more than 60 people appeared to audition at the Saville Theatre for both spring shows. “It’s way more than they expected,” Stage Manager Rachel Barringer said referring to the potential stars who auditioned on Jan. 28.

There was a buzz of nervous and excited energy as everyone waited their turn to audition. The plays this semester are “Almost, Maine” and the “Festival of New Plays.” Those who auditioned performed a one to two minute monologue. In the end, it was up to the directors Katie Rodda, Ashley Kobza, Matt Thompson and Farrell Foreman to decide who would be casted for which production.

“Almost, Maine” is written by John Cariani and the “Festival of New Plays” is a compilation of 7 monologues and short stories written by City College students.

San Diego City College student Sarah David shared her experience on preparing for her audition. This was her first audition for a City College production and she searched through many books of monologues until she found the one that fit her the best.

Jessica Bravo another City College student was also auditioning for her first time at City College and was excited to become apart of either production. “Performance-wise I prefer plays to musicals,” Bravo said.

David also expressed her excitement of ultimately becoming an actress for either production. She agreed with Bravo when asked about musicals versus plays. Musicals are the best to watch but it’s different performing in a play David explained.

Callbacks were posted on Saturday, Jan. 30 on the City College website to avoid leaving those who awaited the results to be left in suspense.

Final casting was posted on Feb. 1 and rehearsals began Thursday Feb. 4. because the cast have a month to prepare before the opening night for “Festival of New Plays,” on March 4. “Almost, Maine,” follows six weeks later on Apr. 15.

In the cast, there were familiar names that appeared in “Zombie Prom”, as well as this year’s productions such as Daniel Sosa Porter, Yasmin Ruiz, Lauren Lantz to name a few.

To view a full list of the cast for both productions visit  City College theatre blog.